If Trump wins the election here’s one idea that will keep me from being incredibly upset. Hear me out…
In America we have a massive income equality problem. It’s getting worse and if we don’t fix it will continue to rear its ugly head. Twenty, 30, 50 years from now, we might look back at this period and explain it to our kids by saying: the internet ushered in a new era of great technological advancement but also massive income equality — so much so that America worked great for one part of the population and didn’t work at all for another. The segment of the population that it didn’t work for had very little means to complain, and little recourse. To fight against not being able to achieve middle class or simply even live paycheck to paycheck, they did everything they could — including electing those who claimed to understand them and help them.
As far as I can tell, there are only two presidential candidates in the last eight years that have spoken to that population: Donald Trump and Andrew Yang.
Trump did it by promising to bring jobs back. Yang wanted to implement a Universal Basic Income (UBI) where we just give money to everyone (PS: I’m a fan of UBI). As far as I know, they are the only ones who have offered any potential solutions to a large swath of Americans who have seen their lives, income and health decline steadily for decades now.
You could say that Donald Trump’s solutions have been ineffective, actually ended up increasing income disparities, and that he didn’t follow through, which is all true. But it doesn’t matter, because it’s the only solution that’s been offered. Many have felt they have no other choice but to support him. Democrats haven’t connected with this group. Their solutions have been investing in education or making health care more affordable. These moves don’t connect and don’t improve the quality of life for many Americans.
I worry that we’re not tackling the real disease of our country, and instead arguing and complaining about all the symptoms this disease is showing.
Academics have always stated that when there’s massive inequality, it always ends in either war, collapse of the nation, famine or plague. Well, perhaps this is where we’ve arrived. Trump is how we will collapse.
Just something to think about as something that’s more constructive than yelling at Trump or blaming those who elected the only person they believe can help them.
A peaceful transition to the next part of the newsletter
Other Stuff
College enrollment in the U.S. dropped by 2.5 percent from last fall.
To anyone who says Twitter is a waste of time, I point you to this example:
A little video of a guy who got stem cell transplant. It ain’t all bad out there.
Corona
The coronavirus is on the rise with cases rising in 22 states over the past week. The U.S. is now averaging roughly 43,000 new cases per day, up 16% from a week ago.
Seven states — Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, Texas, Utah and Wyoming — saw their daily infections rise by at least 60% over the past week.
CDC director Robert Redfield said on Wednesday that data shows that over 90% of Americans remain susceptible to COVID-19 — meaning they have not yet been exposed to the coronavirus.
Let’s keep it that way. Have a great Friday.
Only 64 more days to go
Good comment from a reader:
I’m sure you’ve seen it, but this incredibly prescient quote from Carl Sagan keeps coming back to me.
"Science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness."